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Makeover - The Loft

November 10, 2014

The loft had already been converted when we bought our house {but needed an interior overhaul}, it was a huge room that we didn't know what to do with straight away. We thought about having our bedroom up there but then we'd have two empty bedrooms on the first floor that we'd be walking past every night and the bathroom is on the middle floor too. It would make an amazing master bedroom and en-suite which we might do in the future or have a big nursery/play room one day but for now I love it as our study loft room that's super cosy in the winter and has amazing views.

Before Photos:

What a gorgeous blue carpet and purple walls... said nobody ever. Despite the dated look of the room to start with, the loft was actually a quick and easy transformation. Spotlights were already in the ceiling and we didn't need to change any windows so just repainted everything in our favourite cream, Cosy by Homebase Sanctuary {I've used a lot of creams in my time but prefer this to some Farrow and Ball colours}. The room felt so much smaller when it was purple. We then repainted the ceiling and skirting boards. We couldn't wait for the new neutral carpet to get refitted, did you think we'd keep the blue?? We fitted a four panelled Victorian wooden door to match in with the rest of the house too and then added new slatted blinds at the windows.

During Photos:

Neutral colours made such a difference, the room was a blank canvas ready to personalise and it felt so much bigger up there. I love how light and airy it is up here with the veluxes on one side and big windows the other. Now for the fun part, adding furniture and prettying it all up!

Ben built this industrial style shelving unit for our flat in Maida Vale. It's quite narrow so doesn't take over the room but is the same kind of idea as our crate wall in the dining room for displaying decorative bits, books and a TV. Everyone who visited our old flat jokes that our loft room is basically the same as our old flat in that it has this, our old sofa and dining table {now used as a desk}.I'll do a detailed post on how Ben made it another time.

The vintage step ladder was a Christmas present from Ben's Mum who knows we both like collecting old bits and bobs. We were originally going to make shelves sit across it and have it going the other way but decided it fitted best standing upright next to the shelving unit. It's another little quirky feature in the 'anything goes' loft room.

I needed a big desk for studying, I was half way through my law degree at the time so we used a table that had come from Ben's grandparents antique shop many moons ago. It's got a Liberty of London hallmark underneath, I think it's pretty old and I love the wood. The desk chair also came from Ben's family. It fits perfectly in the alcove and I decided to have a big photo gallery above it to look at when I'm working.

I printed out lots of my favourite photos, a mix of holidays, friends, family and Ben and then sorted them into horizontal or landscape for pegging onto string. Ben screwed some eyelet hooks into the eaves and tied brown string to each end before I pegged all the photos up, starting in the middle and working my way outwards. This was two years ago now so I guess I need to update the photos with our recent trips and wedding photos sometime soon.

The sofa was one we had bought for our flat in Maida Vale, an L shape which is super snuggly in the corner and it turns into a sofa bed and has lift up storage which is handy. The cushions are Laura Ashley and an Ikea throw. It fits so well in the loft, like it was made for it.

After Photos:

Ben surprised me for my Birthday about five years ago with this All You Need Is Love artwork that he'd made after I'd seen one similar on Not On The High Street . He painted scaffold boards black, screwed them together and then stenciled the writing on with cream paint. The coloured paper pom-poms hanging around the room are left over from our wedding and various birthday parties. I love their pop of colour and they suit the relaxed loft really well and help pretty it up a bit.

We were going to have cupboards made for underneath the velux windows, an awkward area to utilise because of the dropped ceiling height but in the end preferred to collect various antique chests to use as storage and filing instead. They suit the room more and we love going to a vintage market or junk shop.

I bought the wire basket and desk file tidy from Cox and Cox, they keep everything neat and tidy without being too overpowering. My desk now has the remnants of our wedding too, the Eat Drink and Be Married sign and heart straws etc. It's a fun reminder.

I love the sound of rain on the Velux windows, so super cosy! And equally they're lovely to open wide when it's sunny to get some fresh air when I'm working. They have blinds within the wood to pull down if needed.

On the other wall, opposite my desk, sits two smaller desks that Ben made with his Grandad about ten years ago. It's meant to be where Ben works but he prefers the kitchen table...

This sweet little school desk came from an antique shop near my Auntie's house in Lichfield, she always takes us to interesting places and it was only £10 so I couldn't resist it. Everything in the Loft has a story. I guess it will be perfect for a child to use in the future but for now we just placed it under the window with an old typewriter, picked up for £5 from a car boot sale. It's a bit useless but fits the style up there.

I think I say this about every room in the house, but this really is one of my favourites. It's a lovely space to relax or work in.

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4
comments

Hi Rebecca I have only discovered your wonderful blog recently. We are planning to decorate our hall, stairs and landing and have been painting lots of tester pots patches to try and decide on a colour. When I saw how you love 'Cosy' I bought a tester pot on Saturday and absolutely love it. However when I went back to Homebase yesterday to buy the full size tins they informed me that is has been discontinued. Wondered if you knew ?

Want to do a loft conversion which is possible we have lots of head room in the loft BUT having issues in getting up there with our current staircase. There’s a corner turn section where our current stairs is not allowing us with the building regs requirement head room. Any suggestion how I can gain 1.5 foot (45cm) extra head room without having to do a small dormer as that's not allowed at front of house. Large back dormer approved. Is there such a thing as a very deep skylight window?loft conversions herts

About me

I'm Rebecca - a complete photo addict and blogger with a passion for interior design, flowers, travel, food, weddings and life with my husband, Ben. I'm based in Hertfordshire splitting life between the rolling countryside and London.

This blog will occasionally contain affiliate links. So if you click on a link and make a purchase from an affiliate site, then I may make a commission from that purchase but this will not cost you anything extra at all. Any sponsored posts will be noted as such but as always I only include products that I truly love and will always be 100% honest.